Dennis Nash is a single father living with his mother. He originally worked as a construction worker, but after the housing market crisis he became unemployed and was no longer was able to pay for his mortgage. Dennis and his family were then forcibly evicted by law enforcement and a real estate broker named Rick Carver. They then move into a motel and struggle as Dennis looks for a job. He then begins to work for Rick after he offers him a job that will teach him to get out of his current living situation. Dennis hesitates and then agrees, unbeknownst to his family. He quickly learns that Rick didn't earn his wealth through honest work. Rick tells Dennis that in order to be successful, he would have to be honest with himself and figure out
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The first one presented in the film is whether he should work for the man who evicted his family from their own home to do the same thing to other people or look for lower paying jobs in a dying job market. He chooses to work for Rick and doesn’t tell his family, knowing they would disapprove. Although, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t agree with Dennis’ actions, his family’s survival is on the line because his original line of work no longer can pay the bills. He has to make enough money to at least pay for his motel and to put food on the table for his family. After being violently confronted by an angry former neighbor he previously evicted, he then had the pressure to make enough money to move out of the motel he was staying at so the stakes were even higher. As Sam Harris says in Lying, it may be acceptable to lie in order to protect innocent life. In this case, the innocent life is Dennis’ family, especially his young son. As a result, I can ethically justify Dennis taking his new job. I also believe that Dennis’ mother was acting emotionally as a result of the eviction, so I don’t blame Dennis for not telling his mother about who he was working for because she wouldn’t have been able to provide for the family if Dennis wasn’t working for
The first one presented in the film is whether he should work for the man who evicted his family from their own home to do the same thing to other people or look for lower paying jobs in a dying job market. He chooses to work for Rick and doesn’t tell his family, knowing they would disapprove. Although, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t agree with Dennis’ actions, his family’s survival is on the line because his original line of work no longer can pay the bills. He has to make enough money to at least pay for his motel and to put food on the table for his family. After being violently confronted by an angry former neighbor he previously evicted, he then had the pressure to make enough money to move out of the motel he was staying at so the stakes were even higher. As Sam Harris says in Lying, it may be acceptable to lie in order to protect innocent life. In this case, the innocent life is Dennis’ family, especially his young son. As a result, I can ethically justify Dennis taking his new job. I also believe that Dennis’ mother was acting emotionally as a result of the eviction, so I don’t blame Dennis for not telling his mother about who he was working for because she wouldn’t have been able to provide for the family if Dennis wasn’t working for